Our 
Values 


VALUES: Always be collaborative, data-driven, and empowering.

Our
Vision 


VISION: A startup ecosystem that reflects the diversity of the San Diego community

Our
Mission 


MISSION: To improve access and equity by coordinating resources across the San Diego entrepreneurial ecosystem.

 Our Board

Our Board Of Directors is made up of forward-looking founders, strategists, thought leaders, investors, and advocates for diversity on a mission to break barriers in the tech startup and innovation community. 

They know first-hand the experiences of underrepresented entrepreneurs in the San Diego tech start up community and are committed to accelerating diversity and inclusion in the current ecosystem. 

Julius Alejandro


Julius strives for innovative approaches to solving social issues. He has over ten years of experiences in grassroots organizing, nonprofit sector, and the startup ecosystem that has crossed intersections from economic development and health disparities that affect communities of color. 

Lauren Rowley


Lauren is an investor and community advocate focused on social justice, sustainability, and shared prosperity within the innovation economy. She is the Chief Investment Officer of Stella Angels and serves on the board of Village Up. 


She is also a Venture Partner with Interlock Capital, a Member of Kachuwa Impact Fund, and is active within the Catalyst Impact Investors Network. 

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Taryell Simmons


Taryell is a Workforce Development Consultant, an equity, diversity & inclusion (D&I) Champion, and the host of the Rise Urban Nation.


After winning a startup pitch competition hosted by Google and Techstars, he became more involved in D&I efforts to help bring diversity to the Tech Startup space. He is a RISE San Diego Urban Leadership graduate and a 2020 Rockwood Leadership Institute fellow. 

Sonia Steinway


Sonia is a fintech entrepreneur, strategic advisor, angel investor, and attorney.


She is fascinated by the intersection among the for-profit, non-profit, and government sectors, and has focused her career on understanding and helping organizations (and the individuals they serve) to navigate those boundaries. 



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Our Advisers

Every member of our board of directors is a thought leader who has made significant contributions to our society. 

Each one brings a unique set of skills and expertise to our organization. 

Ashok Kamal

Ashok Kamal is Executive Director of Tech Coast Angels – San Diego, which is one of the largest and most active angel investor groups in the country.


As an angel investor, Ashok has invested in a diverse portfolio of companies, including Outsite, Backstage Capital, Grove Collaborative, Mercato, Winnie, Zigazoo and Fabric8 Labs. Ashok’s latest venture, the School of Rap, creates new media to educate and empower kids, and he moonlights creating rap songs for tech events.

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Ashok’s career as a social entrepreneur includes co-founding companies in green business, online education and crowdfunding, and he has experienced bootstrapping to profitability, raising venture capital and completing an acquisition. Ashok also led a youth development nonprofit, helped design Newsweek’s Green Rankings for socially responsible investors and started a progressive hip-hop record label in New York City.


Neal Bloom

A SoCal native, Neal studied mechanical engineering at UC San Diego and worked with NASA on the Space Shuttle Main engines and the upcoming Artemis program. He moved back to San Diego to co-found an edtech startup Portfolium, which was eventually acquired by Instructure.

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Neal began angel investing after having built strong relationships with fellow founders in San Diego. As he launched his tech blog and podcast, he had the opportunity to participate in more deals. Having joined Tech Coast Angels, he joined forces with fellow member and past mentor Al to launch an angel syndicate. He’s powered up by activating entrepreneurs and operators sooner than they would have expected into investing.

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As with Interlock Capital’s community focus, Neal is passionate about building platforms that connect startup communities. Opening access to investing, especially in your own city, gives everyone skin in the game to feel that a rising tide lifts all boats.


Dr. Silvia Mah

Dr. Silvia Mah, PhD, MBA, is the founding partner of Ad Astra Ventures, which aims to “get to even” for high achieving women. Dr. Mah is the founder of Stella Labs, an accelerator for women owned businesses; founding member of Stella Angels, a female angel investment group; Investment Committee member of Next Wave Impact, a social impact venture fund; and an angel investor to over 30 startups who have diverse founders on the leadership team.


Dr. Mah’s own success includes producing a globally-recognized podcast, She Invests!, highlighting the investment journeys of female angel investors and venture capitalists; serving for 2 years as the Student Programs Diversity Director at the Office of Innovation and Commercialization’s The Basement, a technology accelerator for undergraduate startups at UCSD; & Fund Manager for the San Diego Angel Conference, a new angel fund to activate regional capital from aspiring and existing angel investors.

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Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Dr. Mah believes in integrating family and work to create a lifestyle that serves both with a strong cup of integrity.

 


Kimberly Davis- King

Kim was a General Partner with IDG Ventures. She played an active role in managing and investing a $120 million captive fund over nine years.

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She led multiple investments in software and technology infrastructure. Successful IPO investments included F5 Networks (FFIV) and VA Linux (LINUX). Prior to joining IDG Ventures, she was an Associate at BankAmerica Ventures. She has also served as a product manager in the Multimedia Publishing Group at Microsoft and spent four years as a consultant at Andersen Consulting. Today she teaches entrepreneurship at both SDSU and UCSD, sits on various nonprofit boards and holds multiple leadership positions including the National Charity League.

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Kim holds a B.S in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.


 Our Team

Matthew Cunanan


I'm  currently an intern for Village Up as the Social Media Specialist. I handle designing graphics, engaging audiences, and assisting in the organization of fundraising events. I believe that engagement is the key to creating a diverse community that's self-sufficient and prosperous. I'm a junior at UCSD studying visual arts and marketing. Partially a study of visual history and visual production, my major Speculative Design looks at the cultures and art of the past while also nurturing environments for producing or designing visual aids. 


Focusing on product and business development, my marketing minor allows me to explore how to utilize my skills in the Adobe Suite and design methods to business initiatives. Interning for Village Up means that I can begin to build a network of like-minded people who want to invest and entrust the future of humanity in not any one industry, but each other. I believe that increasing diversity in the startup space in San Diego is key to making sure that we find new voices and source talent from where it’s needed most.

Allyson Cullen


Allyson Cullen is a sociology, dance, and communications student from San Diego State University passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Allyson aspires to a career in economic development and is interested in community outreach, marketing, event planning, and program support for nonprofit organizations. As the Community Engagement intern for Village Up, Allyson plans events, advises and executes communications and marketing strategies, and assists in operations, economic, program, and fundraising development. 


Allyson worked with Greater Than Tech as a Social Research Analyst to assess program impact on emerging entrepreneurial leaders. In addition to her Community Engagement internship with Village Up, Allyson also manages social media for SDSU Admissions where she creates content and advises on social media and brand strategy. 

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 Our Partners

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